Jaden Smith

I think this is one of my favorite mixes. It is everything that’s good about hip-hop right now. You got Jon Waltz-collaborator NOVA moving to vocals from behind the boards. You got Bobby Raps going ape shit on a record. After that, Young Thug implements a game-changing autotune on “Halftime,” and then OVO-affiliate Jimmy Johnson (or Jimmy Prime) rips into a slow-burning anthem. BROCKHAMPTON artist Matt Champion and Jon Waltz made a 9-minute song, and it’s perfect. I could go on, but you should probably just listen and smoke a lot of pot. Happy 4/20. Stay ~wavy~.

Based on probability alone, most people are bad for you. The problem is my generation is so antisocial that they cling to any semblance of familiarity. Familiarity, oftentimes, is also bad for you. This mixtape documents that internal struggle between the comfort of familiarity and the drab of routine. I miss new feelings. In order to experience newness, you first have to acknowledge how damn easy it is to be sucked into unhealthy but familiar tendencies, and then you have to fight those urges. Progress comes from the fight for novelty.

On a different note, “Vic Mensa sang beautifully on a Kanye West song” is not a thought I ever imagined I’d have. But on “Wolves” Vic croons, “I’m just bad (bad, bad) for you,” and it’s the most affecting part of the song (along with the haunting sounds that follow his verse). This mixtape is in part an ode to the perfection of that song. It’s my attempt to channel the same energy of “Wolves” into an entire mixtape that doesn’t include the song itself.

By the way, this is the 40th Tape Tuesday. We actually celebrated the anniversary a few weeks ago and a lot of celebrities came out to support. Check out the footage from that here.

We are the loneliest generation. And I’m starting to accept that. Because it’s a beautiful loneliness. It’s a loneliness where we are both interconnected and isolated by our own devices. The chasm between reality and fantasy is shrinking. The internet allows us to develop personas, and man, these personas are perfect people. We have perfect opinions on every controversial event. And we are artists. And we have ideas for Kanye. It’s dumb but feels better than reality. We are alone together as an escape from just being alone. What we don’t realize is that being alone together is a lot sadder than just being alone.

So I made a really sad mixtape.

Note: SoundCloud does not have the first track of the mix (“Wound” by Arca), and the transition between that track and Tunji Ige’s “Song of the Night” is the best thing ever. So I’d recommend you download the mix (below) for that.

Chillin’ playing Lupe, feeling all alone, ain’t seen you in two Tuesdays

I didn’t want to be this guy. But I have this thing where I’ll post something if I enjoy it and see potential in it. That’s what happened earlier today when I half-jokingly pressed play on The Cool Cafe: Cool Tape Vol. 1 by Will Smith’s 14-year-old son… I liked it.

Let me set a few things straight before you do that thing where you scoff, roll your eyes, and skip on to the next post. I don’t like every song on this tape. But a lot of the songs are good if you just listen to them with an open mind. Sure, much of the tape is spent finding a definite voice (there are moments of full-on Drake impressions), but can we just remember that this is a mixtape by a 14-year-old kid? The lyrics aren’t bad (I’d be surprised if he wrote them all himself), and the beat selection is spot on. Whoever decided young Jaden should rap over Purity Ring and “cover” SBTRKT is really smart. Blogs eat that shit up. Um, y’all was that meta?